Bevin Cohen is an author, herbalist, seed saver, and owner of Small House Farm in Michigan. He offers workshops and lectures nationwide on the benefits of living closer to the land through seeds, herbs, and locally grown food. Bevin is a freelance writer and videographer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including MOTHER EARTH NEWS, Hobby Farms, Grit Magazine, and the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company catalog. He is the author of Saving Our Seeds and The Artisan Herbalist. You can learn more about Bevin’s work at www.SmallHouseFarm.com.
Bevin is speaking in Texas and is a contributor to Mother Earth News Fair Online.Workshops
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Swaps and Seed Libraries
Learn all about the important role that seed swaps and seed libraries play in a preserving history, building community and supporting a localized food system. Bevin will not only highlight the significance of these programs, but will also show you the steps to establish a seed library or organize a seed swap for your community!
Hands On Sustainable Agriculture
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Seed-Saving Basics
Build a firm foundation of seed-saving knowledge with this introductory, 101-style video. Learn the difference between heirloom, hybrid, and GMO seeds; gather the equipment you'll need for successful seed harvesting; and discover why this traditional practice is still so valuable today!
Hands On Sustainable Agriculture
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Seed Swaps and Seed Libraries: How to Build Sustainable Communities by Sharing Seeds
This energetic presentation from author Bevin Cohen highlights the importance of community seed-sharing programs. Learn why planting, saving, and sharing seeds is essential to the cultivation of sustainable neighborhoods and healthy communities. Discover how to organize a seed swap, establish a seed library, and cultivate healthy changes for your community, from the soil up.
Nature and Community Hands On
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Seed Stories
Learn how the living history of our heirloom seeds is just as important as the seeds themselves. In this video, Bevin shares exciting tales of heritage fruits and vegetables that have traveled the world, influencing the countries and cultures they encountered along the way. By saving and sharing seeds, we're also saving the history, cultures, and stories of the many generations of growers that have tended these precious seeds before us.
Hands On Sustainable Agriculture
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Seed Storage Basics
Once you've learned to harvest and clean your precious seeds, you'll need to know how to properly package and store them to maintain their health and viability! In this video, Bevin walks us through the various storage options available to the seed saver to help the viewer determine which method is best suited to their needs. This video also shows examples of seed storage from a number of well-known seed vaults around the world, including the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault located in Norway!
Hands On Sustainable Agriculture
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Pollination and Varietal Purity
In order to be a successful seed saver, one must first understand how seeds are made! This video is packed full of useful information on flower structure and pollination, isolation distancing, blossom bagging and hand pollination techniques to ensure true-to-type seed purity
Hands On Sustainable Agriculture
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Make Your Own All-Natural Bug Spray
Learn how to make your own all natural, herbal bug spray with herbalist and author Bevin Cohen! In this two-part workshop, you will learn how to make herbal tinctures and infusions that you can use to create your own insect repellant using herbs that can be grown or gathered from your own backyard!
Natural Health Hands On
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Living an Herbal Life: Crafting teas, tinctures and oils at home
Join herbalist and author Bevin Cohen for a fun and informative herbal exploration. Discover the benefits of various cultivated and foraged herbs and explore why developing a relationship with our herbal allies is more important now than ever before. Learn more about the histories and uses of many herbs as well as the basics of crafting a number of herbal wellness products.
Natural Health Hands On
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Let’s Talk Tomatoes: America’s Favorite Fruit
Everybody loves tomatoes, but how much do you actually know about this tasty fruit's fascinating history? Author and seed saver Bevin Cohen will share exciting tales of how this South American fruit traveled around the world and back, influencing the cuisines and cultures of the many countries it encountered along its journey. He will also share tips and tricks on how to maximize your tomato harvest and will conclude with a demonstration of how to harvest tomato seeds to help you learn just how easy it is to preserve this important history! (feel free to edit or use components form the description I submitted for the Kansas fair last year)
Organic Gardening
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Harvesting and Processing Wet Seeds
Many of our favorite garden crops produce "wet seeds." Bevin shows us just how easy it is to harvest, clean, and process these types of seeds; including melons, squash, and peppers. Learn tips and tricks to quickly extract ground cherry, tomatillo, and eggplant seeds, as well as how and why to ferment certain seeds, such as tomatoes and cucumbers.
Hands On Sustainable Agriculture
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Harvesting and Processing Dry Seeds
This is where the seed-saving fun begins! In this video, Bevin demonstrates various methods for harvesting and cleaning "dry seeds," including threshing, screening, and winnowing. Learn how to thresh and winnow a number of different seed types, including beans, peas, radishes, and kale!
Hands On Sustainable Agriculture
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Growing Herbs for Health and Happiness
Herbalist and author Bevin Cohen shows us just how easy it is to grow our own herbs for health and happiness! Learn how to cultivate, harvest and process a wide variety of different plants that you can use to craft teas, tinctures, liniments, vinegars and more. Bevin will share some of his favorite recipes and plenty of advice from his more than two decades as a practicing herbalist.
Natural Health
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Cold-Pressed Oils: Home-Scale Extraction for the Farm or Homestead
Learn how to produce high-quality seed and nut oils from homegrown and foraged crops from Bevin Cohen, Michigan homesteader and author of The Complete Guide to Seed & Nut Oils. Whether you plan to produce oils for cooking, the apothecary, self-sufficiency and resiliency, or small-scale commercial or community production, this presentation will show you everything you need to know to succeed. Bevin will share his decade of experience as an oil presser and will discuss growing and processing oilseeds; equipment options for ease, cost, and convenience; as well as best-practice techniques for filtering, storing, and using your freshly pressed oils.
Modern Homesteading Organic Gardening
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Texas, Saturday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Real Food Stage